Portland Ship Yard, a sister company of Portland Yacht Services, will receive a federal grant of nearly $1 million to replace an aging boat hoist at its Commercial Street boat yard.

The $990,500 Small Shipyard Grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation was announced Wednesday in a news release from Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-1st District.

“Anyone who makes their living on the water knows that a day without an operational boat means a day of losing money. With so many commercial vessels in Casco Bay, the local economy depends on having a place like Portland Ship Yard to get boats back on the water as quickly as possible,” Pingree said in a written statement.

The yard’s aging boat lift has hindered its ability to service many commercial boats. The yard has had 225 days of down time since 2014 because lift problems and safety concerns have made the lift “practically unusable” for all but the lightest vessels, according to Pingree’s office. The grant will pay for a new 330-ton mobile boat hoist for the yard.

According to the U.S. DOT’s Maritime Administration, the small shipyard program provides grants for capital and related improvements to qualified shipyard facilities to foster efficiency, competitive operations and quality ship construction, repair and reconfiguration.

Peter McGuire can be contacted at 791-6325 or at:

pmcguire@pressherald.com

Twitter: @PeteL_McGuire